A powerful endorsement for gold as money came this week from a member of the Executive Board of Germany's Bundesbank, Joachim Wuermeling, who spoke at the press conference in Frankfurt presenting the Bundesbank's annual report for 2022.
Commenting on the central bank's gold holdings, Wuermeling said:
"The revaluation reserve for gold rose by €10.2 billion to €176.1 billion. The price of gold in U.S. dollars as at the reporting date was down slightly on the previous year's price, but the stronger dollar meant that the price of gold in euros was up 6% on the year.
"Viewed over the long term, there is still a sustained marked increase in the revaluation reserve for gold. Compared with its starting balance at the launch of monetary union (€21 billion), this revaluation reserve, with its current balance of €176.1 billion, is eight times as large as it was at the start of 1999."
Here is a European central banker noting that gold steadily has outperformed the currency for which he shares responsibility, and suggesting that it is prudent to hold gold as a hedge against inflation and currency devaluation. Central bankers are seldom so candid about the ancient form of money that still competes with their own.
The English translation of Wuermeling's presentation is posted at the internet site of the Bank for International Settlements here:
The illustrations used in Wuermeling's presentation are posted in German at the BIS site here:
About the author
